United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, one of the largest financial service institutions in Africa, grossed N138 billion (GH¢2.60 billion) in earnings within the first six months of the year.
The increase represents a positive variance of 8.66 per cent over the N127 billion (¢2.40 billion) the bank recorded in the same period last year.
According to an unaudited financial results, released on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), the growth in gross earnings was boosted by an 11 per cent increase in interest income to N98.5 billion (¢1.8 billion) in the first half of 2014 from N88.6 billion (¢1.6 billion) in the comparative period of 2013.
There were also increases in other financial indices; Net interest income was up 3.4 per cent to N55.2 billion (¢1.04 billion); non-interest income rose 3.1 per cent to N39.8 billion (¢752 million); operating income was up 2.7 per cent to N92.2 billion (¢1.7 billion) while profits stood at N29 billion (¢548 million) for the period.
Commenting on the results, Mr Phillips Oduoza, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, gave an assurance that the UBA Group would remain focused on its medium and long-term strategies to grow market share in all its businesses across Africa, manage costs down and ultimately deliver value to all stakeholders.
“We are confident that business returns will be much better in the remaining period of the year as we continue to deploy new and innovative ways of delivering value-adding products and services,” said Mr Oduoza.